In this guest post, Thomas Baker, a teacher and teacher trainer in Chile, and President of TESOL Chile, introduces the concept of digital connectivism and the impact it has on teachers and students of the English language.

Connectivism has been called, “A Learning Theory for the Digital Age” (Siemens, 2005). I aim to share what I have learned about connectivism, and what it means for English Language Teaching.

What I share comes from a Massive Open On-line Course (MOOC) called, Connectivism and Connected Knowledge 2011 (CCK11). The course facilitators are George Siemens and Stephen Downes. Siemens first wrote about connectivism in 2005. Since then, he and Downes have worked together to develop the theory and practice of connectivism. The CCK11 course is where I enter the picture, as a learner and EFL teacher.